


A Flower In Her Garden

by raendown



Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 Drabbles [103]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Could be read as NaruIno, Gen, whichever you prefer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 19:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21481801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown
Summary: Naruto's favorite place in the village is one that many would never expect.
Relationships: Uzumaki Naruto & Yamanaka Ino
Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 Drabbles [103]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533161
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	A Flower In Her Garden

Naruto skipped more than he walked as he made his way around the final corner, smiling as his destination came in to sight at last. The Yamanaka flower shop already had its little wooden sign out front declaring them open and the windows were fairly bursting with all sorts of brightly colored flora. A welcoming sight to say the least.

When he pushed on the front door of the shop a cheerful little bell dinged right above his head and made him smile just as it did every time he came here. Inoichi looked up from where he sat behind the counter, his favorite place to rest after how close he’d come to dying in the Fourth Great War, and the smile that spread across the man’s face was even more welcoming than the bursts of color filling every corner of the room. Naruto could feel warmth all the way to the ends of his toes to be greeted in such a manner even after all this time.

“She’s in the back,” Inoichi told him.

“Thanks!”

“And she’s already dirty,” came the warning as he scrambled around the counter.

Naruto laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

Then he was stepping through a door in to the backroom of the flower shop, more of a greenhouse than a typical storage area, and he breathed a sigh of relief to finally stand inside his favorite place in the world. Hues from all over the spectrum sprang up in every direction, organized chaos bordered with lush green leaves and rich dark soil. And in the center of it all stood Ino with her golden hair almost another flower unto itself and her bright blue eyes sparkling like gems as she spotted him coming in.

“I hope you remembered your gloves this time,” she said. “I’m not helping you scrub the dirt out of your nails again.”

“Are you ever gonna let that go?” Naruto moaned. She laughed at him.

“Never. Now come here and help me repot these tulips, they need more space to grow.”

“Yes ma’am!” Throwing a playful salute in her direction, Naruto hurried to snatch the gloves out of his back pocket and pull them on as he made his way through the rows of plants to reach her side.

Once he did there was no need to ask for direction. This was something they had done together a hundred times and more. Without waiting for permission he grabbed the closest empty pot and began to add a layer of new mix at the bottom, moistening it a little before reaching to pull one of the tulips towards himself so he gently remove it from its old home. Ino watched his every move with less of the sharp hawk’s eyes she used to have and more pleased approval.

They worked together in silence for several minutes and managed to replant two pots each before finally one of them broke the quiet, an unusually long stretch to go without talking for the two of them.

“You’ve gotten really good at that,” Ino praised him. Lifting one already dirty hand, Naruto gave her a thumbs up.

“I learned from the smartest, prettiest, best girl ever!”

“Damn straight you did.” She flipped her hair, caught up in a long ponytail, and he laughed at the split second of panic on her face when the trailing ends nearly landed in one of the watering cans at her elbow.

Not even her warning glare could stop him from doubling over, hands pressed to his gut, uncaring of the fact that he was getting dirt all over his nice clean jacket. That was a risk he took every time he agreed to come help out here in the greenhouse and laundry would always be a small price to pay for a few hours of peaceful happiness.

“You should have seen your face!” he crowed.

“Shut it! Or I’ll repot _you_!”

All that did was make him laugh harder. Naruto might have achieved his dream and become the Hokage of this great village but here in her element Ino’s word was still law and at the end of the day he was happy to follow her direction. It was worth it just to see her pretty smile.


End file.
